During this year’s Christmas Bird Count (http://birds.audubon.org/get-involved-christmas-bird-count-find-count-near-you), put on annually by the Audubon Society running 12/14/2014-1/15/2015, scientists at the Nature Conservancy ask citizen scientists for help identifying signs of damage from invasive tree pests such as the emerald ash borer and Asian longhorned beetle, among others. Invasive insects are often preyed upon by woodpeckers which…
Apparently, an ongoing debate rages; is it best to stack firewood bark up or bark down? While Norwegians seem evenly split 50/50 on the topic, some say it is all semantics and still others are evaluating the psychology of a person based on which way their firewood is stacked, the direction of the bark really…
The first record of a decorated Christmas tree was found in Riga, Latvia in 1510 where men of the local guild of merchants decorated an evergreen tree in the town square with artificial roses and then set fire to it. The next time the historical record mentions the intentional selection of trees which were subsequently brought…
The future of building has arrived and apparently the new, exciting, desirable, sustainable product is wood. Contractors and architects are going back to basics by returning to the renewable, durable, multi-purpose material after years where it was fashionable to design and build with steel and concrete. Nowhere was this message clearer than at this year’s Wood Solutions fair…
In a world moving towards sustainability, improving urban tree cover can provide numerous benefits both environmental and social. Tree canopy in an urban environment will reduce summer peak temperatures, increase efficiency of heating and cooling buildings, improve water quality and curtail erosion. Additionally, lush urban tree cover increases aesthetic appeal and value; all of these factors…
Beginning on December 14th 2014 and running through January 5th 2015 the Audubon’s Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is the longest running citizen science survey in the world. Thousands of volunteers across the country will contribute critical data on winter bird population trends. This data is entered into the database and is vital to the…
The 600 acres of crop and forest land in close proximity to the Penn State University campus is interlaced with irrigation pipes carrying and discharging over 500 million gallons per year of primarily treated wastewater. This “living filter” system was developed and constructed in the 1960s and provides a unique opportunity for university scientists to…
As the birthplace of Arbor Day, with a flagship Tree USA campus, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) is has a reputation to protect and they do so by making a serious commitment to protecting the environment. This is why one of the seniors in their landscape architecture program initiated a campus-wide policy for replacing trees when it…
Outsmart is a smartphone application developed by collaborative efforts of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health at the University of Georgia. This application aims to connect the public with detailed information about invasive plants and animals in their area. The ultimate…
For many of us winter consists of long months filled with cold, grey days where we can only dream of warm, green spring days filled with flowers. However, there are some plants that grow indoors which brighten our lives by blooming during the holiday season. The Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) and the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bridgesii) are fall and…
